Cardada Cable Car

Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland

ABOVE: The Cardada funivia whisks
locals and visitors from Locarno to a mountain resort
with panoramic views of Lake Maggiore and the Alps.

By Durant Imboden

Locarno,
in Switzerland's Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, is on the northern shore of
Lake Maggiore, which it shares with Italy.

From the town, a funicular leads
up to the hillside commune of Orselina and
a pilgrimage church, the Santuario della Madonna del Sasso.

Next to the funicular terminus,
a modern cableway station (designed by the world-renowned Ticinese architect
Mario Botta) offers a scenic trip by aerial cablecar to the mountain resort of
Cardada at 1340 meters or 4,396 feet above
sea level.

From Cardada, you can then walk
a few minutes to the Cimetta chairlift,
which will carry you to a viewing point at an elevation of 1670 meters or 5,479
feet.

The excursion isn't cheap, but the scenery is unforgettable, and
you can easily spend half a day riding the cablecar and chairlift, hiking along
the mountain ridge, enjoying the scenery, and having lunch on the restaurant
terrace next to the Cardada cableway's upper station.